Make sure your chickens have clean and free water with this DIY waterer idea stolen… uh… borrowed from Frank Hyman. Water, water everywhere, but not a drop in the hen pen that’s fit to drink, because it’s often mucked up with dirt, debris, or chicken poop. Yuck! Theoretically, keeping chickens can be a lot of […]

Have you ever wanted to try raising meat chickens for your family? Learn some of the ups and downs from blogger Kaylee Vaughn’s experiences.   After several years of owning and raising chickens, we decided that it was time to try our hand at raising meat chickens. In the past, we had raised and home-butchered […]

Movable boards for poultry droppings help with cleanup and let you use chicken manure for composting. Liz Fulghum explains how to easily build a drop board. All photos by author. It’s an irrefutable fact: Chickens poop, and they poop a lot. In the coop, their favorite place to poop is off the edge of the […]

Try out Carrie Miller’s White Chicken Chili for a spicy treat and warm alternative to red chilis. White chicken chili can be made on the stove or in a crock pot, I will be using a crock pot. This easy recipe is sure to please just about everyone who enjoys a bit or spice with […]

Learn about biodigesters and how they can help you process chicken poop, from permaculture writer Jonathon Engels. Where there are chickens, or any animal for that matter, poop is sure to follow. While this is often erroneously referred to as waste, the fact is that we can do lots of very useful things with manure. […]

Demystifying (but not de-mistyfing) chick incubators. -Advertisement- Believe it or not, incubation isn’t just an invention of the modern era. Historical records show that incubation of eggs was practiced in Ancient Egypt. Mud brick buildings, divided into chambers that were basically large ovens, were heated by burning straw, dung or charcoal. Temperature and ventilation were […]

Learn how to set-up your Cornish Cross broiler operation for versatility and efficiency. Anne Gordon shares her tips so your set up can reduce and even eliminate health issues and the sudden death “flip.” [Unless otherwise noted, all photos by author] Each spring and fall, I raise a batch of 25 Cornish Cross pullets. My feed […]

Learn more about quail meat and how to process your birds for home use or market from quail expert Alexandra Douglas. Quail have been (and are still) typically served in fancy restaurants as a delicacy. These days, folks like to know what’s in their food, and one of the best ways to do this is […]

Permaculture writer Jonathon Engels walks us through the basics of using chicken manure and a compost pile to make an outdoor water heater. With chickens comes manure, often in quantities and in places we’d rather not think about. But, make no mistake, chicken manure in the right—dare we say—hands is valuable stuff. Most of us […]

Open Sesame: Coop Doors that Open on Command Frank Hyman knows about DIY and being inventive. Here are some of his ideas for automatic chicken coop doors. The Basic Pop-Door One important goal for our chicken-keeping adventure was to continue enjoying two-week vacations a couple times a year. However, one common feature of most coops […]